I guess you wanted to have some fun watching YouTube on your Roku device but it isn’t working for some reason.
Today, I’m going to provide you with some of the easiest ways to solve this issue and get Youtube working on Roku.
Why is Youtube Not Working on Roku?
Some of the common reasons why Youtube is not working on Roku are poor internet connection, servers of YouTube might be down or the firmware of your Roku device might be outdated.
Apart from these three, there could few other things which might be causing issues while streaming YouTube on Roku.
Let’s talk about how you can solve those issues easily.
How to Fix Youtube Not Working on Roku
Here are the possible solutions for Youtube not working on Roku:
- Check the status of YouTube servers
- Check your Internet Connection
- Restart Roku
- Force restart your Roku device
- Reset the Network connection
- Update YouTube app
- Update Roku firmware
- Power Cycle your Roku TV
- Reset Roku
1. Check the status of YouTube servers
To check the server status of YouTube, you have to:
- Visit downdetector.com.
- Type “YouTube” in the search bar, and hit Enter.
- Select the platform you are having issues with from the list.
- Check whether YouTube is down or working fine.
This should be the very first thing you must do If YouTube is not working properly or not working at all on your Roku TV.
If the servers of YouTube are down or in maintenance mode, you may not be able to access the app or watch any videos. It needs to be up and running smoothly to watch any content on the platform.
In case, the servers are actually down, you may need to wait for some time, and the YouTube team will fix the issue in a couple of hours.
If this is not the case, there is nothing to be worried about as there are plenty of ways to fix this problem. Let’s move on to the next solution.
2. Check your Internet Connection
To check your Internet connection, all you have to do is, visit Speedtest.net from any web browser, tap on “Go”, wait for a few moments, and see If the results seem fine or not.
If you have a weak and inconsistent internet connection, you’ll have a hard time watching anything on YouTube because it’ll not load up the content properly.
Speedtest.net is one of the best ways to check the speed of your internet connection to get clear numbers about the speed. If the result is actually matching with your current bandwidth plan, it means it is working fine.
In case, the results seem to be poor you’ll need to find a way to overcome this problem.
Some of the best ways to improve your Internet speed are,
- Upgrade the bandwidth plan.
- Restart your Wi-Fi router.
- Use an Ethernet connection instead of Wi-Fi.
If you are still struggling with a poor internet connection after doing all of these things, you must pick up your phone and contact your ISP team immediately and let them know about the issue you are dealing with and they’ll probably solve it for you.
Pro Tip: If you have a slow internet connection, try lowering the video quality and check If you are able to play any videos on YouTube.
If you can play the videos with low quality, it means you have a temporary internet issue which will be solved soon.
You can change the video quality once your internet starts working at the usual speed.
3. Restart Roku
To restart your Roku, you have to:
- Press the “home button” on your remote.
- Select “Settings” from the options.
- Go to “System”.
- Select the “Power” option.
- Click on “System Restart” and hit on “Restart” to complete the process.
Just like any other device, restarting is one of the best ways to solve any kind of problem you might be facing on your Roku device.
YouTube may not be working for you because of cache-related issues, technical issues, network issues, or any other thing, restarting Roku will get rid of all of these things at once.
If you have any problem restarting your Roku TV with this method, I suggest you go with the next method I’m about to show you.
4. Force restart your Roku device
To force restart your Roku device, you have to:
- Press the “home button” simultaneously 5 times.
- Press the “Up button” once.
- Press the “Rewind button” twice.
- Finally, press the “Forward button” twice.
Once, you have done all these things, wait for at least 20 seconds and your Roku TV will automatically restart.
This is quite a tricky way to restart your Roku TV and most people aren’t aware of it. You should definitely give a try to this one and see If you are able to fix YouTube not working issue on your Roku TV.
5. Reset Roku Network connection
To reset the network connection on your Roku TV, you should:
- Open the “Settings” menu.
- Scroll down and select “System” from the list.
- Again, scroll down a bit and tap on “Advanced System Settings”.
- Finally, select “Network Connection Reset” and click on “Reset Connection” to complete the process.
If you are having problems with your Wi-Fi connection like automatically disconnecting devices or anything like that, you should consider resetting the network connection on your Roku TV.
This is a temporary issue that can be solved in a matter of a few minutes.
You should keep in mind that, resetting the networking connection will delete all the settings of both Wi-Fi as well as Wired connection.
After confirming the action, your TV will restart automatically and you’ll have to set up your Wi-Fi as a new connection.
Here’s a quick video about this process that might help you.
6. Update Roku YouTube app
To update YouTube on your Roku TV, you should select the YouTube app from the home screen, press the asterisk button on your remote and then tap on “Check for updates” to see If you have got any updates.
Using an outdated version of the YouTube app on Roku or any other device is not an idea, especially If you use it a lot on daily basis. It’ll freeze midway while watching any videos or it won’t launch at all.
You must always keep the YouTube app up to date to ensure your privacy as well as the performance of the app. Just follow the above steps and you are done.
If the app is already up-to-date, you may have to find some other way to solve this issue.
Pro Tip: If the update didn’t help you solve your problem, you should consider uninstalling the YouTube app and then re-install it, and most probably, the issue will be gone.
7. Update Roku firmware
To update the firmware on your Roku stick or TV, you have to:
- Press the “home button” and tap on “Settings”.
- Select “System” from the options.
- Click on “System Update”.
- Finally, tap on “Check Now” to see If your Roku device has got any new updates.
- If the update is available, complete the process by following the on-screen instructions.
Similar to keeping an app up-to-date, you must not forget to update the firmware of your Roku stick or TV.
Roku does release updates to their firmware on a regular basis so that you can get a fresh and few features and fix any bugs or errors you may have in the current firmware version.
The main cause of not being able to use YouTube on your Roku device could be related to Roku OS and that’s why you should update it whenever the new update is available.
If you have any doubts about updating the firmware of Roku, here’s a quick video guide for you.
8. Power Cycle your Roku TV
To power cycle your Roku TV, you have to:
- Turn off the TV.
- Unplug the cables from the power outlet.
- Wait for at least 1-2 minutes.
- Press and hold the power button located on the TV for about 20 seconds.
- Release the power button.
- Plug the cable back into the power socket.
- Turn on your Roku TV as usual.
If your TV is going through any difficulties, power cycling is going to be really helpful to get rid of those errors.
Power Cycle is an act that drains the residual power of your TV that might be causing some issues while using the TV and I have recommended this method numerous times on this site as it is really an effective way to fix any issues of your TV.
9. Reset Roku
To reset your Roku device, you have to:
- Press the “home button” on your Roku TV remote.
- Tap on “Settings”.
- Now, go to “System > Advanced System Settings”.
- Finally, tap on enter the four-digit code you have got on the screen to complete the process.
Resetting your Roku device should be the last thing you should consider If YouTube is not working even after trying all of these methods I have discussed above.
The reason why I’m recommending this method, at last, is, that you may lose all the data of your Roku TV and you’ll have to set up everything from the scratch.
The good thing is, that it’ll solve each and every problem you are facing on your Roku TV and you can watch YouTube without any issues.
If you are unable to follow the above methods or If your Roku remote isn’t working properly, you can make use of the “Reset button” located at the back of your TV.
A lot of people aren’t aware of this because it is hidden in such a way that it is not easily visible.
You can watch the below video If you are interested to know more about resetting your Roku TV without a remote.
Bonus:
To reset your Roku stick, you can follow the same steps as above or press and hold the “Reset” button located on the stick for about 10 seconds until the lights blink.
When the lights blink on the Roku stick a couple of times, it means the reset is completed and you are done.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Why can’t I search on YouTube on my Roku?
Due to cache-related issues, you aren’t able to search anything on YouTube on your Roku TV.
Simply restart your Roku device and then you can search for anything you want on YouTube.
2. Why is YouTube TV not working on my Roku TV?
The most common reason why YouTube TV isn’t working on Roku is because of a poor internet connection.
Just fix your internet connection or restart your Wi-Fi router and then you can watch YouTube TV on Roku as usual.
So, when you’re done with fixing Youtube you may want to cancel Hulu on Roku. Check the linked article to get a simple guide.
Conclusion:
YouTube is one of the most widely used apps on Roku as it is the main source of entertainment for a lot of people including me and it doesn’t feel good when the app is not working properly.
Thankfully, there are various ways to fix YouTube not working on Roku problem and I’m pretty sure that you may have fixed it by following any of the methods I have talked about.
I would love to know which technique worked for you in the comments below If you have any other queries on this topic, do not hesitate to leave them below and I’ll get back to you ASAP. Cheers!